RIVERSIDE (CNS) – The number of known coronavirus infections throughout Riverside County increased by 474 Wednesday, and the number of deaths edged up one, according to the Riverside University Health System.
The new numbers bring the county’s totals to 7,319 active confirmed cases and 432 deaths.
The total number of infections documented since early March is 14,905. However, that figure is not representative of ongoing cases, but rather a snapshot of the aggregate impact of COVID-19 on the county, according to Executive Office spokeswoman Brooke Federico.
“If you subtract the number of deaths and the number of recoveries, you will get the currently known number of active cases,” she told City News Service.
The number of documented patient recoveries since March is 7,154.
RUHS data showed 314 people are hospitalized for COVID-19, 92 of whom are in intensive care units. Some of the patients are from Mexico and Imperial County, where large outbreaks have occurred, according to the Emergency Management Department.
EMD Director Bruce Barton told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that 10 to 15 patients a day are being transferred from Imperial County to Riverside County and surrounding jurisdictions. However, fewer than a dozen of those patients are currently in medical facilities within the county.
Barton added that part of the surge in hospitalizations, which were below 250 a weeks ago, is attributable to COVID-19 outbreaks in state prisons in the region, which contract with the Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley for care of inmates.
Sheriff Chad Bianco told the board Tuesday that the number of infections in the county correctional system was down to two, and those patients are asymptomatic. At one point, the caseload was over 200.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that Riverside is one of 11 counties the state is watching due to coronavirus surges. San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Imperial, Santa Barbara, Kern, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin counties were also listed.
